Top 10: Intimidating Teams

Number 2

1967 Oakland Raiders

These Raiders were both mean and disobedient. They treated football like it was some sort of nuisance rather than a pleasure and they unloaded their frustrations on opponents.

The ’67 Raiders led the AFL in sacks, penalties and rushing touchdowns, all quantitative signs of tough and dirty play. With five Hall of Famers, they weren’t just a bunch of goons either.

Jim Otto and Gene Upshaw led the push from the offensive line, and Otto in particular was/is so revered that the NFL has retired his uniform number 00. George Blanda was a quarterback and kicker who played professionally for a record 26 years. Wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff set records for pass catching at a time when the forward pass was still something of an avant-garde method of moving the ball, and he caught a then eye-popping 40 passes. Defensive back Willie Brown was among the league leaders every year in making mean interceptions and knocking the helmets off the opposition.

The only thing worse than playing against a mean and dirty team is playing against a mean and dirty team that’s really good. And the ’67 Raiders were plenty mean, plenty dirty and plenty good.

Fear factor: Otto wrote a book after his retirement that described in detail the injuries he received and inflicted over his playing career. The book was aptly titled “The Pain of Glory.”

Number 1

1974-75 Philadelphia Flyers

NHL

The ’74-’75 Flyers team, known as the “Broad Street Bullies,” won the second of two consecutive Stanley Cups. The famously toothless Bobby Clarke, one of seven players with more than 100 penalty minutes, earned 116 points and 125 minutes that season. Also on the team were the equally talented and nasty Andre Dupont, Rick Macleish, Reggie Leach, and Bill Barber.

Their physically ruthless style of play apparently paid off, as the Flyers led the league with 51 wins and 113 points, and allowed the fewest goals in the league due to Bernie Parent’s splendid 2.03 goals against average. Parent was personally taught how to play in goal by his boyhood idol, Jacques Plante, the legendary goalie who once took a puck in the face and returned that same game wearing the NHL’s first mask.

Fear factor: Not that the Flyers needed it, but they employed an enforcer named Dave Schultz, who amassed a modest 472 penalty minutes that season, lest there be any doubt that these Flyers were a physically dominant team.

go cry to mommy

Some teams set themselves apart from the pack with sheer talent, great coaching, and flawless fundamentals. For a certain few teams, that stuff is not nearly as effective as intimidating their opponents and causing that moment’s hesitation on every play.

Maybe these guys skipped the good sportsmanship lesson when they were kids, but it worked to their advantage when they reached the professional ranks, where winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.